Department of Botany

Research and teaching within the Department covers various botanical disciplines from the taxonomic and eco-physiological aspects of plants, through plant populations and communities, to the ecosystem and landscape levels. Laboratory of Archeobotany and Palaeoecology exists inside the Department (http://lape.prf.jcu.cz/eng/). A genetical laboratory was established in 2006. The Department is responsible for the master study program in Botany, which includes the following specialisations: Taxonomy and ecology of cyanobacteria and algae (supervised by J. Komárek and J. Kaštovský); Mycology (supervised by M. Vašutová); Systematics of higher plants (supervised by M. Štech and J. Kučera); Population and community ecology (supervised by J. Lepš); Vegetation ecology (supervised by K. Prach); and Archeobotany (supervised by J. Beneš). The master program is officially approved for education in English

The individual research projects are especially focused on: modern taxonomical approaches to cyanophytes, bryophytes and vascular plants; ecology of fungae; interactions among populations in plant communities; research in underground organs of plants; ecological succession; invasion of alien plants; botanical analyses of fossil and archeological samples. Research in taxonomy conducted by staff members contributes substantially to determination handbooks of general importance such as Süsswaserflora von Mitteleuropa, and Flora (vascular plants) of the Czech Republic.

The Department has close links to the Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, in Třeboň (25 km from České Budějovice, web site: www.butbn.cas.cz) and in Průhonice near Prague (web site: www.ibot.cas.cz). Some staff members have part-time appointments at the Institute and those and students have the possibility to use the facilities of the both institutions; various joint research projects are conducted. Close contacts exist to various foreign institutions. Staff members are or recently were members of the editorial boards or associate editors of several international journals such as Journal of Applied Ecology, Journal of Vegetation Science, Restoration Ecology, Plant Ecology, Plant Biology, Community Ecology, Basic and Applied Ecology, Folia Geobotanica, Preslia, Web Ecology, Annales Botanici Fennici, Algological Studies, European Journal of Phycology, Polish Botanical Journal. The staff members participate or participated in several project of European Union under 5th and 6th frameworks and in other international projects.

An emphasis is placed on a broad field experience, in addition to the theoretical disciplines and experimental approaches. Various excursions are organised by the Department: one-day excursions inside the region, and weekly trips to attractive parts of the country, or to neighbouring landscapes (the Alps, the Carpathian Mts.). Longer excursions are arranged for the students to other biomes (Mediterranean region in Spain, Turkey and Italy; boreal and sub-Arctic zones in Scandinavia and northern Russia; steppe zone in Ukraine and Crimean Peninsula). Students are generally encouraged to spend at least some time in well known universities and institutes abroad and attend international conferences and workshops to present the results of their research efforts.

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